Operations management

Operations Management is the management field which designs, builds, operates and improves the productive system which produces the company's products and services. It is sometimes limited to the operation of the company's factories or service provider operations, but this is a misconception as operations management encompasses much more including many facets of the supply chain, such as appropriate use of inventory, available capacity & production management, plant and equipment maintenance and customer interaction. Sound operations management is crucial to ensuring an efficient supply chain which can deliver products to customers competitively in the time frame and manner they require.

Operation managers usually have an engineering or commercial background, and may have other business qualifications. They usually have had experience in manufacturing/processing plants, as team leaders to production/plant managers, or experience in a service operations role. Some operations managers and engineers will also have had some lean manufacturing/production education.

Operations Management Consulting

Some areas of operations management may at times be supported by with relevant expertise on solving operational and business problems or devising strategies to achieve greater efficiencies.

Operations Management Areas

Operations management is a broad term and has greatly evolved since the start of the 20th century as technological advances have increased efficiency and productivity, it can be decomposed into several areas such as the following: